


kissing in pickup trucks

by boydivisions



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Artist Keith (Voltron), Friends to Lovers, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, for some reason pick up trucks are very important in this, this is probably kinda rushed but whatever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 10:58:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10410639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boydivisions/pseuds/boydivisions
Summary: Keith and Lance are childhood best friends living in Middle of Nowhere, USA.AKA mutually pining losers have horrible timing but eventually it all works out.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first fic here.... y'all should know i'm klance trash

Lance was contently laying by the pool, enjoying the holiday from his job, a slightly damp towel draped over his shoulders.

 

He stretched contently on the lounge chair, the lazy breeze wafting the scent of chlorine over to him. He traced slow, lazy circles with his foot, eyes half lidded to keep the sun out. The distant sounds of his siblings rough-housing and the sizzle of the grill added to the summery mood. The sound of his name rang out among the muted noise, like a hot knife through butter.

"Lance!"

He looked up and his face split into a wide grin. His eyes drank in the sight of the angelic boy who was jogging towards him. His smile softened as he took in Keith's slightly ruffled hair, the pink sunburnt patches on his pale cheeks, and the dusting of new freckles mapping an entire galaxy across the bridge of his nose, the gentle swells of his cheekbones.

Keith slowed to a halt and dropped into the chair next to Lance, his expression one of barely restrained excitement. The corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, and it gave Lance butterflies in his stomach. He gave Keith an expectant look.

"What's up, Keifers?" Lance smirked, relishing in the way Keith's cheeks reddened at the nickname. Keith's hands fidgeted nervously on his lap, and he bit his lip.

"I... got accepted. To SVA." Keith mumbled, avoiding Lance's eyes. Lance's face lit up and he grabbed Keith's face, squishing his cheeks and forcing him to make eye contact.

"OH MY GOD! KEITH?!" Lance shrieked, earning himself a disapproving look from his older sister. "I told you you would!! Any art school would be so lucky to have you!!"

\---

Keith grinned from ear to ear, blushing furiously at the praise and the sudden close proximity to the attractive, exuberant Cuban boy. The hard part of the confession was coming soon, but for now Keith just basked in the glow from the sun and Lance's smile, equal to each other in radiance and warmth. He leaned into Lance's touch.

Leaving would be so hard.

He had a plan in mind, for how to tell Lance he'd be leaving next week, not next month. But now wasn't the time to worry about that. Lance was here, Lance was warm, Lance was- Lance was dragging him into the pool, letting out a whoop as they dove into the cold water.

For now, here was right where he wanted to be. Right where he belonged.

God, leaving would be so hard.

\---

Lance cannon-balled into the pool, dragging Keith with him and cackling raucously when Keith let out an indignant shriek of protest. Lance released Keith when they surfaced, spluttering and coughing. He swam up behind Keith and wrapped his arms around him. He wanted to shower Keith in soft kisses, tell Keith how proud he was that he had gotten into a top-rated art school, tell Keith he loved him.

Instead he scooped Keith up and plunged them both underwater again, surfacing only when Keith started kicking him in the side. They spent the next hour just messing around, splashing each other with water, and acting as if they were ten years old again.

 

\---

Dinner had been a long, leisurely affair. Keith, Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk were all invited, as per tradition. Lance sat next to Keith, as per tradition. However, one thing wasn't the same as it always was. A thick air of tension between Keith and Lance. It was as if they were both anticipating some catalyst their entire friendship had been leading up to. 

Whether it was good or bad, they couldn't tell.

\---

Keith drove down the bumpy dirt road, his rusted red pick-up jolting with every pebble it rolled over. Lance rode shotgun, complaining about Keith's taste in music. Keith simply smirked and turned up the Arctic Monkeys, the slow beats calming his racing heart ever so slightly. He was fully aware of what he was about to do, knew it could be disastrous or the best decision of his life.

He bit his lip. This would make or break him, make or break his friendship with Lance, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't terrified.

Some cheesy K-Pop song about love came on, and Lance turned the volume all the way up, dancing in his seat as he belted out some horribly pronounced Korean. Keith couldn't help but chuckle at his antics. A little bit of the tension between them diffused, and Keith let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

So far, so good.

He drove past the crooked road signs, down an even bumpier dirt road that led out to a sprawling field. He drove to the top of a gentle slope and parked the truck, slipping through the busted back window onto the truck bed, and indicating to Lance to follow suit. He kicked the tailgate down, and laid back. The stars blazed above him, and he felt as if an entire galaxy had ignited at his side when Lance laid back next to him, all soft smiles and starry eyes. They laid in silence, simply enjoying each other's company and warmth for a moment.

After what could have been a few brief moments, or an unbroken eternity, Keith sat up. Lance followed suit, as if sensing what was about to happen. Lance's blue eyes pierced his very soul, and Keith felt himself let out an awestruck breath. For the first time, he could see all of Lance's freckles, innumerable, clustered so tightly together you couldn't see them all individually.

Keith tilted his head slightly and flicked his eyes down to Lance's lips, asking permission, and he got the most miniscule of nods in response. Keith leaned in, and slowly locked his lips with Lance's. Lance hummed contently, slipping his arms around Keith's waist and laying back down with him against the metal bed of the truck. Their lips pushed gently against each other, neither one wanting to shatter the moment, neither one wanting it to move beyond kissing. Lance let out a sigh when they pulled apart and sat up.

Both stared at each other with wide eyes, eyes full of trapped stars and unspoken emotions. And then they're kissing again. And again. And again. It's more passionate and emotional now, both of them reciprocating fully in the other's feelings. Keith wrapped his arms around Lance's chest, tangling his fingers in Lance's short, silky hair. Lance's hand rubbed small circles on his back, the other tangled in his fluffy, ink black hair.

One kiss turns into two, two turns into five, five into ten, until there's really no gap between the kisses anymore, just rushed breaths before crashing back together again. They only pull apart when the fireworks shoot off above them, their foreheads pressed together. Lance starts laughing, a sound so infectious Keith had to laugh along with him.

\---

They laid back in the bed of the truck, Keith's body curled up close in the curve of Lance's body. Lance's fingers idly twirled in Keith's hair as he slowly pressed warm kisses to the shorter boy's jaw.

"Soo...." He murmured into Keith's ear before gently pressing a kiss there. "Where are we now...?" Keith hummed thoughtfully.

"I think... I think maybe I like you? Not sure though..." Keith pressed an absent-minded kiss to the corner of Lance's lips. "I'm leaving for college soon, but if you want to do a long distance thing, I'd do it..."

Lance hummed thoughtfully, tilting his head forward till their foreheads touched. He kissed the tip of Keith's nose and gazed at him fondly. 

"I don't want to lose you, Keith..." Keith's pale cheeks flushed, easy to see even in the darkness. Lance wound his fingers through Keith's hair again. "When do you leave for college...?"

Keith bit his lip, suddenly avoiding his eyes. "Next week. The 10th." Lance felt his face fall.

"That soon, huh?" He murmured, pressing a kiss to Keith's cheekbone.

"Yeah, my aunt wanted me to come out early. Get a job, meet people out there, learn the area." Keith sighed. Lance closed his eyes briefly, trying to quash the aching feeling swirling up in his chest. 

"I can help you pack up, pretty boy." His chest felt hollow, the thought of Keith leaving so soon felt like a knife to the heart.

But seeing Keith's soft, open smile made it so, so worth it.

\---

Keith leaned back against the wall of his room, Lance's hands warm on his sides. It was the evening of the 9th, and he and Lance had taken a break from packing to kiss. It was slow, soft, but emotional. He could taste the salt of Lance's tears in their kiss, feel the warm drips of water falling off the tip of Lance's nose. There wasn't time for them to say goodbye in the morning, unfortunately. Keith couldn't afford to travel back and forth, and Lance had to stay behind for his family. This would be the last time they'd see each other in person for four years, and by god, they were going to make this goodbye count.

Lance pulled back, just barely, his lips still brushing against Keith's.

"I love you so much, Keith." The words, murmured against his lips, made him shiver.

"I love you too."

\---

"Hey Keifer, how's the big-city life?" Lance grinned at the grainy image of the boy on his laptop.

"It's been good so far! Pretty overwhelming, but I was expecting that." Keith sighed, leaning back in his chair. Lance leaned in closer to get a better look at his face and grinned.

"You have paint all over your face, Keithy." Keith broke out in a chuckle at that, his shoulders shaking slightly as he covered his mouth with one hand. Lance had seen Keith laugh so many times before, but he still found this little trait endearing.

He gazed fondly at Keith until his laughter died away, and he looked at something off-screen. 

"Damn, I gotta go or I'll be late for work." Keith turned an apologetic gaze back on Lance before ending the call.

Lance sank back in his seat, covering his face with his hands and letting out a long exhale. This 'long-distance' stuff was harder than he'd anticipated it would be. He kept unconsciously reaching to tuck Keith's hair behind his ear, but his fingers only met the cool glass of his computer screen. A harsh reminder of the reality that Keith was hundreds of miles away, in one of the biggest cities in America.

Keith was worth it though. Lance would climb mountains for that boy, and would do anything to make Keith know that.

 

\---

It had been two years.

Two long, lonely years without Keith.

Lance hadn't heard from him in just shy of a year. He'd given his heart to the raven-haired boy, and despite the distance between it and himself, he could feel it breaking into pieces.

He was sure Keith had found someone else in the city, sure Keith had forgotten their confessions and promises whispered between gentle kisses. Why should he remember them? They had probably never meant anything to Keith anyway. Lance had probably just been a last-minute fling before leaving for college.

Lance buried his head in his hands. They'd only been together for a few days before he'd left.

So why was this so damn hard?

\---

Three and a half years.

Lance felt numb. He hadn't heard a word from Keith in so long. Keith had kept in contact with Shiro (which made sense, Shiro being his brother and all), and occasionally texting Pidge. Not a word to Lance.

His parents had tried setting him up with girls and guys alike, but nothing had ever stuck. Lance was utterly hung up on Keith, and nobody could fill the mullet-shaped hole in his chest.

And it hurt like hell.

He spent hours replaying those two nights in his head. The first night, laying in the back of Keith's truck and murmuring confessions between kisses, and the second night, whispering goodbyes and 'I love you's' against each other's lips. He sighed, leaning back against the wooden pillar on his porch, and blew a puff of smoke into the night. The stars winked down at him through the swirling gray, and he felt like a cosmic joke for the universe to laugh at. 

The faint strands of a cheesy country song about lost love drifted out of the house, his father singing along. 

Lance felt his eyes sting and he snuffed out his cigarette in the dirt as the tears came. This was stupid. He shouldn't be so hung up on Keith. But he is, he is, he is.

What was so special about Keith?

Lance buried his head in his hands.

He already knew the answer to that question.

\---

Keith was coming home.

Lance was panicking, he couldn't face Keith now, he wouldn't. Not after 3 years of self-doubt and toxic thoughts leaking in. He wouldn't be able to look Keith in the eye without having a full-on panic attack. He could barely even think about Keith without his hands starting to shake. 

God, he was so gone over this boy. How was he going to be able to face Keith now, after all these years, after all those self-depreciating thoughts? He'd vented to Hunk for a good hour after finding out Keith was coming back. He was torn between hating Keith and wanting to kiss his dumb mullet-headed face off. He buried his face in his pillows and groaned. Keith was going to be back in this tiny town tonight. Lance wasn't ready, would never be ready.

He was utterly, totally in love with this man, and the line between love and hate was a fine one. His heart felt like it was being torn in two, divided between hating Keith for leaving him behind, and loving him, because he was Keith. And Keith was soft hair, warm smiles, freckles as innumerable as the stars they so reminded Lance of, and an undeniable sense of home. 

Lance's stomach was in knots, nervous anticipation suddenly crawling in along with the dozens of other jumbled emotions. Deep down, Lance really wanted to see Keith. Wanted to cover his face in kisses. Wanted to lose himself in those violet-gray eyes. Wanted to tangle his fingers in Keith's hair, never let him go.

He was ready to see Keith and at the same time he didn't think he'd ever be ready.

\---

Keith tore down the highway at breakneck speeds, desperate to get out of New York and get back to the fresh air, his hometown, and above all, Lance. His stomach was tied in guilty knots. He felt terrible for ignoring Lance, but he'd been afraid. His feelings for Lance had grown painfully intense while he was gone, and it had scared him. How much Lance had come to mean to him in such a short period of time, how dependent he was on him. He'd isolated himself, then, out of sheer terror of growing too close to Lance, as he tended to do whenever he got too close to anyone, or anything.

It was something he hated about himself, and something that tended to royally screw him over in life. For instance, when it made him completely isolate himself from the only boy he'd ever had feelings for.

But, God, he wanted to see Lance again. He wanted to hold him in his arms, murmur apologies to him, tell him he loved him so damn much. He pushed the gas pedal a bit closer to the floor, the engine roaring as he pushed both it's limits and the speed limit. Only one thought was running through his mind.

I need to see him again. 

\---

Lance's family was out to dinner, but he'd stayed home. His mom was understanding enough, knowing how much Keith's impending return had shaken him. He laid back on the couch, inhaling deeply, exhaling shakily. He knew Keith would be going to Shiro's house right away, didn't expect to see him tonight. Sleep crept up on him like a wolf up to prey, and just as he was about to drift into sleep, hopefully to have fluffy dreams of a certain raven-haired, violet-eyed boy, there was a knock on the door.

Lance stumbled to his feet, rubbing his eyes blearily as he walked towards the door. He opened the door, and all traces of sleep vanished instantly, adrenaline buzzing through his veins. 

Keith stood on his front porch, looking insanely awkward and flustered.

"Can we talk?"

He looked so desperate and vulnerable, and as beautiful as ever, and Lance felt any bravado he might've had melt away at the hopeful glint in Keith's eyes.

How could he ever possibly say no to this man?

\---

Keith sat down on the couch, facing Lance, and took a deep breath. God, I'm in his living room. I'm in his living room and I have to explain why I've been ignoring him for three years.

Keith just had a natural talent for getting himself stuck in these godawful situations, didn't he?

He met the blue-eyed boy's gaze and tried not not to flinch. You can do this, Kogane.

"I'm so sorry Lance." He said quietly, dropping his gaze to his hands, folded neatly in his lap. "I-I can't even explain what was going through my mind when I stopped talking to you altogether. I was just so overwhelmed by New York, and college, and just-" He threw his hands up in the air, more frustrated with himself than anything.

"Overwhelmed by how much I love you."

Keith hadn't looked at Lance's face once since he started talking, and he wasn't about to, until Lance gently took one of his hands and tugged it onto his lap.

"Keithy, Keifers, can you look at me? Please?"

And the pleading tone in Lance's voice was enough to make Keith face him again. 

Lance's were wide, a thousand different emotions swirling in his ocean-blue irises, and his jaw had dropped a little bit. 

"Keith, I don't blame you for anything that happened, I-I just, I missed you so much Keith." He raised a hand to cup Keith's jaw and gently rubbed a thumb along the soft skin below his jawbone. Keith melted as he leaned into the touch, his eyelids fluttering shut. They stayed like that a moment, just enjoying each other's presence.

"Can I kiss you?"

Keith's eyes flew open as he nodded, maybe a bit too eagerly considering the circumstances, but it had been far too long without any physical contact from Lance. He leaned in and met Lance halfway. It was soft, close-mouthed and tender, and it was the best kiss of Keith's entire life. He wrapped his arms around Lance's shoulders, winding his fingers into the soft brunette hair. His hair got longer, Keith noticed vaguely, his mind blurring at the edges as Lance tipped his head to one side to deepen the kiss.

He only pulled away when the tears started coming, pressing his forehead against Lance's and hiccuping out a little laugh.

"I love you so much."

\---

6 years later

"Keeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith!" Lance whined, opening the door to the bathroom and allowing steam to billow out. "You promised you wouldn't use all the hot water this time you absolute jerk!"'

Keith poked his head out from the shower curtain, wet hair plastered over his face and a toothy grin that showed off his adorable dimples.

Being cute didn't change the fact that he was an absolute hot water hog, though. Keith stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, pecking a quick kiss on Lance's cheek before walking into their bedroom to change into some clothes. Lance followed him out and wrapped his arms around his waist before he could pull on a shirt. He gently pressed a kiss to the shorter boy's collarbone and nuzzled his nose into Keith's neck. 

"I'm so glad you came back, darling. I-I don't know what I would've done with myself if you'd left for good..." He pressed gentle kisses up Keith's neck, pausing to nuzzle his nose under Keith's jawbone and sigh contently.

"Can I treat you to breakfast, dear?" Lance murmured, gently stroking a hand over Keith's abs. Keith shivered a little at the touch and nodded, a soft, fond smile gracing his face.

A few minutes later, Lance was pouring pancake batter onto the griddle while Keith went through his morning routine. Lance glanced out the window to see his beautiful fiance out in the garden, checking over the roses with a critical eye. Lance felt his heart flutter at the sight of Keith in his white tshirt and light washed overalls, his mullet pulled back in a ponytail. Keith was so beautiful, his poor heart couldn't take it. 

Abandoning the pancakes for a moment, he went outside and wrapped his arms around Keith's waist from behind.

"I'm so lucky to have you, dearest..." He murmured, not missing the way Keith's neck flushed a pretty pink color at the new term of endearment. He pressed a kiss to the back of Keith's neck and set his hands on Keith's hips.

"Now, can you take a break and enjoy some slightly burnt pancakes?"

Keith chuckled breathily, and God, he could subsist for years on that sound alone.

He gently turned Keith around to face him, and he felt the familiar sense of awe that Keith was here, and Keith was his, and Keith loved him back. 

Lacing their fingers together and smiling when he felt the engagement ring on Keith's finger, he pulled Keith into a soft, slow, loving kiss.

When they finally pulled apart, Keith raised their clasped hands to press a kiss to Lance's knuckles.

"I'm so glad I came home."

\---

Their anniversary night saw them in the back of Keith's shiny new red pickup truck, the stars blazing above them without the glare of streetlights to dim them. Although the stars above them were beautiful, the two men were far more interested in searching the galaxies that lit up in each other's eyes. Wrapped up in each other's arms, trading lazy kisses in between murmured conversation. They both had violets tangled in their hair, and Lance couldn't believe how close Keith's eyes came to being the exact same shade as those crushed flowers.

He tugged Keith closer and claimed his lips in another slow, loving, passionate kiss, his hands tangling in Keith's hair and gently tugging on it. Keith let out a small, happy noise, and Lance felt his heart stutter at being the cause of that sound.

They kissed for a long while, until the fireworks shot off overhead. Keith pulled away first, his face taken over by a soft, open smile as he let out a unrestrained, joyous laugh, and Lance damn near melted. Despite being together for so long, he still considered Keith's laugh a blessing he should never take or granted.

Keith was a blessing he should never take for granted.

And he made certain he never did.

**Author's Note:**

> can't believe i finally took the plunge and posted one of my fics publicly?? wow 
> 
> dedicated to my good friend aleesha aka macnkeith/pngpotpies on tumblr because without her i probably wouldn't have finished this :") <3
> 
> anyways hmu on tumblr @ slainmckogane


End file.
